Railroad-spike.



G. F. GARRITY.

RAILROAD SPIKE.

APPLICATION FILED NOVJ30, 1912 1,092,351, Patented A r. 7, 19m

@219 .9 g fl' s,

lllllll ATTORNEY GEORGE FRANCIS GARRITY, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILROAD-SPIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 7, 1914.

Application filed November 30, 1912. Serial No. 734,372.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE F. GARRITY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have'invented a new and useful Railroad-Spike, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railroad spikes, and is an improvement on the construction shown in Patent No. 915,586, grantedto me on March 16, 1909.

In the present construction means are pro vided for securely holding the spike in engagement with the tie, thus resisting more effectually than heretofore the tendency of the rails to spread; and means are also provided for tightly closing the entrance to the opening in the tie made by the spike when being driven, thereby preventing the entrance of water which causes the tie to rot around the spike and resulting in the loosening of the spike and oftentimes in the spreading of the rails.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawing, in which like reference characters designate similar parts in each of the several figures, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railroad spike constructed in accordance with my invention, showing it driven fully into place and representing a portion of a rail and the tie and .tie plate. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a cross section through the shank of the spike, looking toward the head. Fig. 4 is a rear elevation.

The improved railroad spike comprises a straight shank 'or body portion 1, usually rectangular in cross-section, each of its four sides being preferably equal, and the said shank being of the same cross-sectional area throughout the major portion of its length. Adjacent to its lower end the shank is provided on its inner and outer faces 2 and 3, respectively, with beveled portions 4 and 5 to form at the extreme lower end an entering chisel-edge point 6, adapted to'be driven into a railroad tie in the ordinary manner. At a point adjacent to the upper or head end of the spike, the shank is outwardly flared, as at 7 on all four of its sides, said flared sides forming a neck which merges into the drlving head 8 Said head is of the ordinary shape and slze and is provided wit-h an inwardly extending nose 9 adapted to overhang and engage the base flange 10 of the ra l, the underside of the said engaging nose belng beveled or inclined as at 11, to conform to the customary inclination of the said flange. On the opposite or outer side the spike head is formed with a substantially straight vertical wall 12, having an undercut portion providing atie-engaging shoulder or offset 14 which bears upon theitop surface of the tie plate and thus prevents any outward movement or tipping of the spike away from the flange of the rail. It

will be noted that the shoulder is located at the top of the neck, but below the lower or inner end of the nose, being spaced suficiently so that when fully.drive.n in place the shoulder comes on a horizontal line with the bottom of the rail.

{At a point approximately one-fourth of v the length of the spike from the top of the head, the flared neck 7 merges into the shank or body-portion 1. Between this point of juncture and the lower chisel-edge point, the shank is provided, on its inner face 2, with a series of open-ended recesses 15 extending entirely across the said face and being spaced apart to form lugs or projections therebetween for preventing the accidental withdrawal of the spike. The outer flat faces 16 of the said lugs are in the vertical plane of the inner face of the shank so that the spike may be easily driveninto the tie without unduly tearing or mutilating the same, and the rectangular shank 1, by reason of its straight, uniform sides, will form aclean opening in the tie until the fiber of the wood opposite the recesses 15 expands and enters the said recesses and thus retains the spike in its proper position in the tie. To aid this action of the wood fibers, the open-ended recesses 15 are formed with a horizontal bottom wall 17 which extends inwardly to approximately the longitudinal axis of the shank. At this point the wall 17 meets a relatively short vertical inner wall 18 which extends upwardly a distance about the same as the length of the faces 16 of the lugs or projections and the recess is completed by providing the inclined upper wall 19 which connects the topof the inner wall with the bottom edge of the outer faces of the lugs. It will thus be seen that a series of spaced lugs are provided between the recesses having their outer faces in flush vent the upward movement of the spike except when great force is brought to bear thereon.

The function of the upwardly flared neck portion 7 is to compress the fibers of the Wooden tie surrounding the top of the spike, upon the same being driven home, so as to exclude all Water or moisture and thus prevent the tie from rotting. In other words it plugs up the opening in much the same manner as a cork would. The opening in the tie plate is tapered to accord with the shape of the neck.

I claim l. A railroad spike having a shank rectangular in cross section and having substantially the same cross sectional area throughout the major portion of its length and provided at its inner face with a series of open ended recesses forming a series of intervening lugs, a head, and a smooth outwardly flared tapering neck'connecting the head and the shank and adapted to fill completely and plug the opening formed by the shank to exclude moisture and prevent rotwall, an inner wall perpendicular to thebottom wall and an upper wall inclined thereto and extending upwardly and outwardly from the inner wall, said recesses forming intervening lugs, which have flat end faces in the vertical plane of the said inner face of the shank, a head, and a smooth outwardly flared tapering neck connecting the head and the shank and flared or tapered on all four sides so as tofill completely and plug the opening formed by the shank to exclude moisture from the interior of the cross tie and prevent rotting of the same at the lugs.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing asmy own, I have hereto. affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE FRANCIS GARRITY. \Vitnesses:

JAMES A. OMALLEY, THOMAS F. GARRITY. 

